Tom Morris

Tom Morris OBE was born on June 22, 1964, and is the younger brother of satirist Chris Morris. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit boarding school in Lancashire, before earning a degree in English Literature from Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he studied from 1983 to 1986.

From 1988 to 1994, Morris balanced teaching English literature with a prolific career in journalism and broadcasting. He contributed features and criticism to publications such as The Times Literary Supplement, The Independent, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and The Observer, and appeared on BBC programmes like Night Waves and Kaleidoscope. During this period, he also co-founded Stage of Fools—his own theatre company—with which he wrote, performed, and directed shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

In 1995, Morris became Artistic Director at Battersea Arts Centre, where he remained until 2004. There, he launched groundbreaking initiatives such as the Scratch Programme, the British Festival of Visual Theatre, and BAC Opera, and co-wrote innovative pieces like Ben Hur, Jason and the Argonauts, and World Cup Final 1966 with Carl Heap. He later joined the National Theatre as Associate Director, where he co-directed War Horse with Marianne Elliott—a production that became a global phenomenon and won him a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play in 2011.

In September 2009, Morris became Artistic Director at the Bristol Old Vic, a position he held until 2022. During his tenure, he spearheaded major initiatives including the “Bristol Ferment” artist-development programme and a comprehensive renovation of the historic theatre. He directed an impressive array of productions—Swallows and Amazons, Jane Eyre, Peter Pan, The Grinning Man, Touching the Void, Handel’s Messiah, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and opera works like The Death of Klinghoffer—earning both critical acclaim and national recognition for the institution.

Acknowledging his contributions to British theatre, Morris was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Birthday Honours. He also serves on the board of Complicité and was the founding Chair of the JMK Trust, a program established in memory of James Menzies-Kitchin to support emerging theatre directors. Under his leadership, the Bristol Old Vic not only underwent artistic revitalization but also expanded access and engagement with its community—securing Morris’s legacy as a visionary leader in contemporary theatre.